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The government could DITCH its contact tracing app and ‘move to a different model’ after only 35% of residents download it on the Isle of Wight

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Britain could ditch its coronavirus contact-tracing app before it has even been rolled out nationwide, a senior government minister has admitted.

Communities secretary Robert Jenrick revealed the app – being piloted on the Isle of Wight – may need to ‘adapt’ or ‘move to a different model’. 

Fewer than 50,000 people living on the island, or 35 per cent of its population, have downloaded the app since the trial began last week.

But experts say around two-thirds of Britain – the equivalent of 40million people – will eventually need to install the app for it to work.  

The app, which works using Bluetooth, alerts users if they have been in close contact with someone who has reported symptoms of COVID-19.

But its design has sparked privacy concerns, with officials admitting the ‘centralised’ NHS approach sees personal data stored in one database. 

Other nations have adopted an app model which stores data in a ‘decentralised’ way, meaning the app does not harvest location data.  

Google and Apple’s own decentralised tech has been adopted by European nations including Germany, Ireland and Switzerland. 

Health chiefs – keen to roll the app out nationwide in the next week – are understood to be looking at switching to the system used by the two tech giants. 

It comes after Boris Johnson last night turned the screw on Matt Hancock by vowing the government would increase daily testing to the hundreds of thousands.

The embattled Health Secretary will be tasked with delivering the Prime Minister’s ambitious goal – despite failing to hit his own 100,000 target for eight days in a row. 

Only 52 per cent of Britons said they would download the NHS contract tracing app (pictured) – but experts say it needs 60 per cent of the population for it to work

How is the NHS tracing app different to one made by Apple and Google?

The app technologies developed by Google/Apple and the NHS are based on the same principle – they keep a log of who someone has come into close contact with – but the way they store data is the main difference. The NHS’s keeps information in a centralised database, while the Google/Apple app is de-centralised.

NHS app: Lists on NHS servers 

The NHSX app will create an alert every time two app users come within Bluetooth range of one another and log this in the user’s phone.

Each person will essentially build up a list of everyone they have been in ‘contact’ with. This will be anonymised so the lists will actually just be numbers or codes, not lists of names or addresses. 

If someone is diagnosed with the coronavirus or reports that they have symptoms, all the app users they got close to during the time that they were considered infectious – this will vary from person to person – will receive an alert telling them they have been put at risk of COVID-19 – but it won’t name the person who was diagnosed. 

NHSX insists it will delete people’s data when they get rid of the app. 

Apple/Google: Contained on phones

In Apple and Google’s de-centralised approach, meanwhile, the server and list element of this process is removed and the entire log is contained in someone’s phone.

That app works by exchanging a digital ‘token’ with every phone someone comes within Bluetooth range of over a fixed period.

If one person develops symptoms of the coronavirus or tests positive, they will be able to enter this information into the app.

The phone will then send out a notification to all the devices they have exchanged tokens with during the infection window, to make people aware they may have been exposed to COVID-19.

The server database will not be necessary because each phone will keep an individual log of the bluetooth profiles someone has come close to. These will then be linked anonymously to people’s NHS apps and alerts can be pushed through that even after the person is out of bluetooth range.

It is understood that if someone later deletes the Google/Apple app and closes their account their data would be erased.

Will NHS benefit from central data?

If the NHS collects the data it may be able to use it as part of wider contact tracing efforts as well as being able to detect local outbreaks using location data.

In future, if someone is diagnosed with COVID-19, members of an army of 18,000 ‘contact tracers’ will be tasked with working out who else that patient has come into contact with and put at risk.

It is not clear how much access the human contact tracers will have to data collected through the app. 

Health Secretary Matt Hancock has previously said the app will be ready to be rolled out nationwide in mid-May. 

On the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show yesterday morning, Mr Jenrick said that as far as he was aware, the government was not developing a rumoured second app.

However, he said: ‘We have an app that is being rolled out on the Isle of Wight but we are also paying attention to what is happening elsewhere in the world.’ 

Mr Jenrick was asked specifically three times by Mr Marr on whether the government is developing a second app.

He added: ‘As far as I’m aware, we’re not developing a second app but we are paying attention to other apps that exist elsewhere in the world.’

And Mr Jenrick said ‘obviously’ the government will change tack if it needs to ‘adapt our app, or move to a different model’.   

The app – designed by NHSX – forms a key part of Downing Street’s three-step test, track and trace coronavirus battle-plan. 

Leading scientists have repeatedly said a widespread testing and tracing regime is essential in squashing any infectious disease outbreak. 

South Korea offered the world proof that the system works, bucking the global trend and opting against a lockdown in favour of the rigorous regime. 

Fewer than 300 people have died from the virus in the Asian nation – despite it being one of the first places to suffer a large outbreak outside of China.  

The NHS COVID-19 App requires smartphone users to download it and share data the moment they test positive or display signs of COVID-19.

It then sends a notification advising every mobile user who was in close proximity to them to self-isolate, in case the virus was passed on. 

Concerns have been raised about its reliance on self-reporting and the risk it could be used to ‘prank’ people.

Users who download the app voluntarily opt-in to record details of their symptoms – a cough or fever – when they start to feel unwell. 

Leading experts have said the UK is effectively the only country to use self-reporting, rather than verified tests, in its app. 

Dr Michael Veale, a digital rights and regulation expert at University College London, said this was because Britain can’t get a test ‘turned around in a few hours’. 

He told Sky’s Sophy Ridge On Sunday: ‘This is really a worry. In other countries we’re working with, they are very clear that self-reporting will not be allowed on their app.

‘It can be misused or used to prank or used to target people deliberately and put them into quarantine without them knowing.’ 

If the NHS collects the data it may be able to use it as part of wider contact tracing efforts as well as being able to detect local outbreaks using location data. 

The NHSX app is a key piece in the UK Government’s plan to get the country out of lockdown, integrated in their test, track and trace strategy. But it’s been fraught with complications since trialling of it began on Isle of Wight this week – such as that older phone models are not compatible 

NHS CONTACT-TRACING APP DOES NOT WORK ON NEW HUAWEI DEVICES, OFFICIALS ADMIT

The NHS contact-tracing app being trialled on the Isle of Wight does not work on the latest Huawei devices or some older mobile phones, the NHSX has admitted. 

COVID-19 app development leader Geraint Lewis said that the new tool will only work with newer operating systems on Apple and Android phones.

Huawei was recently forced to abandon the Android operating system and replace it with its own HarmonyOS software, due to the US government’s trade war with China.

Speaking to BBC Radio Solent, Lewis said that devices need to support Bluetooth Low Energy and run either Apple iOS 11 upwards or Android 8 or higher.

Several listeners contacted the radio station to say that the app — which is being piloted on the island before a wider release — was not working on older devices.

It comes after it was revealed last week health chiefs have paid an IT firm £3.8million to see if it can use Apple and Google software in the new contract tracing app.

NHSX asked the London office of Switzerland-based firm Zuhlke Engineering to help develop and support the app which is on trial on the Isle of Wight.

The contract includes a requirement to ‘investigate the complexity, performance and feasibility’ of using Apple and Google software in the new ‘NHS COVID-19’ app. 

It comes after a survey revealed only 52 per cent of Britons would actually download the NHS contract-tracing app. 

The same poll, carried out by Opinium for the Observer newspaper, found that fewer than half of Brits approved the government’s handling of the COVID-19 crisis.   

But experts have said that around 60 per cent of the population – 40million people – will need to download the app to make the software effective. 

And researchers at the University of Oxford believe that the app will only be effective when used by 80 per cent of the population.

Insiders on the app development team reportedly say it starts to become effective at reducing infections with take-up above 50 per cent.

With lower levels of usage, some scientists admit it may help to reduce the strain on the NHS by reducing the number of new cases each day.

But it would not necessarily crush the coronavirus crisis, which has officially killed at least 31,800 infected people in the UK. 

Some 140,000 Isle of Wight residents were urged to download the app as part of a pilot study before it is rolled out across Britain.

A source close to Isle of Wight Radio says that it is estimated around 90,000 adult Islanders have mobile phones.

Fifty-thousand Islanders have downloaded the app, according to officials – giving an uptake of around 55 per cent. 

Residents have complained the app is fraught with complications, such as that older phone models are not compatible. 

WHAT CONCERNS WILL STOP PEOPLE DOWNLOADING THE APP? 

The success of the app for reducing infections is not known yet, but a number of difficulties have been thrown up by users in the Isle of Wight. 

Data protection

Fears over privacy have also been raised by MPs on the Commons’ human rights committee, who said they had ‘significant concerns’.

NHSX’s app stores data about infected cases and their contacts in a ‘centralised system’, meaning when a person chooses to share their data it is sent to a computer server anonymously.

But Google and Apple’s own version, which has been adopted by several European countries including Germany, the Republic of Ireland and Switzerland, is decentralised. 

It means phones directly communicate with each other and the app does not harvest location data. 

Because no movement or tracking information is stored on a central server, it would be invisible to Google, Apple and the NHS and there would be nothing to hack. 

Experts believe this approach is less likely to face a legal challenge.

Isle of Wight resident Omar Lakhssassi told LBC News: ‘It’s caused a bit of a split opinion across social media here on the Isle of Wight.

‘Many people including myself are very happy to download this app and to try and make a difference to the data recording so the Government can track and trace people that have Covid-19 symptoms. 

‘Some people though are quite dubious – they are worried about their privacy being breached, and very vocal on social media, saying they won’t download this app.’ 

NHSX insists it will delete people’s data when they get rid of the app. 

Ian Levy, technical director at GCHQ’s National Cyber Security Centre, has reassured users that the app is safe to use. 

The Government has insisted that all data will be completely anonymised, with Mr Hancock rejecting claims the app could open the door to ‘pervasive state surveillance’. He said that was ‘completely wrong’. 

Incompatibility 

Islanders have said the app will not install on Huawei, iPhones and Samsungs released before mid-2017.  

And complaints have been pouring into local Facebook groups, many of which moan the app saps battery – however others have said this is not a problem.  This may be because people have different versions of iOS software.

Phil Clarke, from Cowes, who has a new iPhone, said he found it ‘easy to download’ but told MailOnline: ‘My mum tried to download it and it said her device wasn’t compatible even though it’s a Samsung smart phone’.

Bluetooth issues 

There is concern the apps will yield false positive alerts because the Bluetooth tracking system is over sensitive.

The app keeps a trace of others who have been in close contact through Bluetooth signals that transmit an anonymous ID. 

These low energy Bluetooth signals perform a digital ‘handshake’ when two users come into close contact, but keep that data anonymous.

An expert told MailOnline the Bluetooth technology only ‘listens’ for other phones when the handset is locked.

It means that when two locked iPhones with the app are together, they will not record contact – a problem highlighted by TraceTogether users in Singapore.

How will the NHS app work? 

The NHS is rolling out its new coronavirus track-and-trace app today for testing across the Isle of Wight. This is how it will work

STEP ONE: DOWNLOAD THE APP

Britons will be able to download the app for free from the Department of Health website.

It is also available via the Apple and Android app stores or via a link sent by email to NHS and public sector workers. 

It is being tested on the Isle of Wight before a potential roll-out across the country, probably one region at a time.

STEP TWO:  PROVIDE A PARTIAL POSTCODE

To register the person will be asked to provide the first half of their postcode, which shows the NHS the town or borough they live in – but not their name or their exact home address.

The user will be asked to allow the app to use the phone’s bluetooth to keep track of other phones it comes in to close to and for how long for. 

The NHS insists it will not be tracking location data – only phones

But while the Government has said ‘your postcode will not be used to track your location’ – it is less clear if they also mean your location will not be tracked at all.

STEP THREE: KEEP YOUR PHONE ON

The user will be told to keep their phone and Bluetooth switched on at all times and the app will run in the background without them doing anything.

The user will also be asked to allow ‘push notifications’ – which allows the NHS to send a person messages directly to their phones. 

When an individual goes out, the app will keep a log of every time it comes within Bluetooth range of another phone – but that person must also have the app. 

All IDs will be anonymous, with each app registered to a code rather than a person or address.

STEP FOUR: REPORT YOUR SYMPTOMS IF YOU BECOME ILL

If someone becomes ill they will be asked to log on to the app and input it. They will be asked if they have the common symptoms of coronavirus such as a high temperature and a continuous cough.

If no, nothing will happen. If yes, they will be told to order a coronavirus test.

STEP FIVE: APP SENDS YOUR DATA TO THE NHS SERVER FOR ANALYSIS BY EXPERTS

If it is a suspected coronavirus case, these symptoms and the anonymous IDs of all the phones the user has come into contact with are automatically sent to an NHS server.

The NHS will analyse the data sent by the original sufferer using an ‘algorithm’ based on distance of between one and two metres, and the amount of time, probably around ten to 15 minutes.

STEP SIX: NHS SENDS AN ALERTS TO CONTACTS 

It will then alert app users who have been in ‘significant contact’ with the original person with symptoms. 

In early versions of the app, this warns the user that they have been in contact with someone who has reported symptoms and should self isolate.

If the original sufferer tests positive, everyone they have been in contact with will receive a stronger ‘red’ alert telling them to go into quarantine. The original sufferer triggers the red alert by entering a PIN issued by the NHS after they test positive. 

The Department of Health has not revealed exactly what the alerts will say. The Department of Health says: ‘The app will advise the public what action to take if a user has been close to someone who has become symptomatic. The advice on what people should do can be adapted as the context and approach evolves.’

The app will calculate how at risk a contact is by measuring their exposure to the person with symptoms. It will measure exposure by time and proximity. The NHS analysts will set the risk parameters that trigger alerts.

STEP SEVEN: ORIGINAL SUFFERER CONTACTED BY HUMAN NHS CONTACT TRACERS

The app will issue the original person with symptoms instructions on how to get a test using the software. 

One of around 10,000 UK human contact tracers may also get in contact on the phone and ask the app user how many people are in their household, where they have been and who they have been close to, that they know of, to find people who may not have been picked up by the bluetooth.

They will also try to contact these new contacts if required. 

STEP EIGHT: SUFFERER IS TESTED

Once the Covid-19 test arrives at the person’s home they will be expected to swab and then put it back in the post to an NHS testing centre. They may also be eligible for a home test by a health worker or visit one of the country’s test centres. The result should be available within 48 hours.

There are then two possible outcomes:

•  The person tests negative. In this case, your contacts are told via a message that it was a false notification.

• The person tests positive. In this case, your contacts are asked to isolate for 14 days, and get them into the clinical testing path. 

STEP NINE: HUMAN CONTACT TRACERS CONTACT AT-RISK CONTACTS OF ORIGINAL SUFFERER AND PLOT HOTSPOTS

The NHS’ army of human contact tracers will contact app users who have been in ‘significant contact’ with the original person with symptoms will be alerted through the app. They will provided with ‘health advice’ – which may include self isolation – based on the NHS’ assessment of their level of risk. Not everyone who has been in contact will be alerted based on the NHS algorithm. This advice will be constantly modified by doctors based on the current siutuation.  

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